In what many consider the first sign of the end of the world (or at least the World Wide Web) the FBS Web server in Southern California sustained a direct hit from a F4 Kryptonite meteor on the evening of December 19, followed by a tsunami on December 20 and a plague of locusts on December 21. The ripple effect from the impact quickly spread over the globe as it shut down the FBS website, blocked our inbound email traffic, broke links in this newsletter,prevented FBS users from receiving updates, and even affected the performance of FBS software.

We apologize for the inconvenience many of you suffered and thank you for your patience as we are waiting impatiently for our web host to put the pieces back together.

The "granddaddy" of ag computing conferences returns January 11-12, 2013 at the Tan-Tar-A Resort on the Lake of the Ozarks.

Computers on the Farm is an annual event for all people interested in computer applications on the farm. Topics are planned for both beginning and advanced users. Demonstrations and discussion of computer technologies for farm applications are emphasized. Much of the conference consists of current farm users sharing experiences about computer applications they are using in their operations.

Bring your family to Tan-Tar-A for the weekend. The conference takes place on Friday and Saturday.

Throughout the past year we've covered cost centers, (made up of production, consolidating and servicecenters) as well as crop marketing centers but have only touched briefly on profit centers.

The Farm Financial Standards Council defines a profit center as:

"a segment of the business that embraces both costs and revenues. Profit centers typically encompass significant areas of activity within the business and are a major reflection of management's strategy to achieve its overall profit goals."

Here some guidelines to help you define your profit centers:

When associated with agricultural production, the profit center is generally identified with a specific product or commodity("Corn," "Wheat," "Feeder Cattle").

It is the highest level of analysis and may represent a "roll-up" of many production and marketing centers.

It must generate outside sales and does not primarily support another profit center. For example if all of your corn is fed to livestock you would not consider "corn" as a profit center.

It incorporates sales, general and administrative (S,G&A) andfinancing period costs along with work in process costs to determine a total unit cost.

This inclusion of period costs means that profit centers require a"time slice" analysis (general a12-month fiscal or calendar period), which can result in "blended" costs between overlapping production/marketing periods.

FBS defines profit centers through a "C" or "F" center "shell"that contains no direct transactions but includes allocations from S,G&A and financing centers. The commodity profit center is then included with the commodity's other cost or marketing centers when running a cost analysis report.

Non-production profit centers such as Trucking, Feed Mill, Custom Application, Tiling or Shop can also follow this format. The Consolidated Cost Analysis is the most adaptable platform for reporting.

A Pork profit center cost analysis also includes G&A and financing costs.

January "One O'clock Webinars"

Ending 2012--Starting 2013, January 17.

Balancing Your Balance Sheet, January 14.

Planning for the New Crop Year, January 21.

Getting Started with LifeCycle Budget, January 28.

All webinars run between 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm CST. To register, e-mail support@fbssystems.com by 12:00 pm CST on the day of the webinar.

Q&A of the Month--I Loaded the Upgrade, But Lost My Data!

Sarah Dixon, FBS Technical Services Manager.

Q. I installed the 8.13 upgrade according to the direction, but now I can't find my data! HELP!

A.Don't worry; your data is still there. What likely happened is that your upgrade automatically created and got installed in a folder named FBSWIN81, while your previous FBS version was installed in the FBSWIN folder.

First, determine where FBS is currently installed. You can do this by going to theCOMPUTER or MY COMPUTER and opening your local drive (normally "C"). Look for folders beginning with "FBS." If you find both a FBSWIN and a FBSWIN81folder you'll want to choose the FBSWIN folder for the new installation. (Your DATA folder should also be in FBSWIN.)

Put the FBS 8.13 Install CD back into the computer and run the SETUP.MSI like you did on the original install, but this time choose to remove the program and follow prompts until it says the program has been removed.

Now open and close the drawer for the CD to get the auto installer screen up again and run SETUP.MSI once more. This time when it asks where you want to install click on CHANGE. Then look on your local drive to find and select the FBSWIN file folder. Follow the remaining prompts to install the program.

Finally you need to open and close the CD drawer one last time and again run SETUP.MSI. This time choose REPAIR and follow the on-screen prompts. Now you should be installed completely in the correct directory. Launch FBS form the desktop icon and click on theDATA folder and select the file you want to work with. The top menu bar should say Top ManAgement Series 8.13 and you'll see the new picture of a corn field and blue sky. You will still have the FBSWIN81 file folder that you will most likely want to delete to avoid causing any confusion in the future.

Sincerely,

FBS Systems

FBS Systems, Inc.
1855 55th Ave
Aledo,
IL
61231
US

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